I have two modifications I did to my RV-8 tail, a wrap around empennage fairing and a small window in the access panel on the right side to view the control attachment hardware.
Your empennage fairing mod is a lifesaver for me right now. I didn't start work on my fairing until after painting and final assembly and was facing nut plate installation on the aft top skin. As you can imagine, very difficult after final assembly. Your solutions may work nicely for me; after all, I'll have lots of time for additional fiberglass fabrication in my shop during the Michigan winter... and while waiting for my engine to be rebuilt after the crankshaft AD debacle (still ongoing). As always, thanks for some great tips!
I just like the look better too! I have seen people forget to add nutplates in areas until it’s almost too late and causes a lot of extra work. Saw one RV-8 that did just that on the bottom skins where the bottom wing skin needs to be screwed to the bottom fuselage skin after mating the wings. He just left them out! I spent most of my building time in our Chicago winters while watching hockey!
Just got my 2022 Van's calendar. Congrats on making the back cover!! Love this tail fairing mod. Gives me some great ideas for my RV-10. Your stuff combined with Stu's Aircraft Factory are a huge help. Thanks.
Mike, Enjoying all your videos. Met you at OSHKOSH. Congrats on your award! , I had the blue RV8A kitty corner. Ideas for sealing gap in rear canopy. Starts out small and grows to about an inch at the very back. She says it’s cold and the heater only blows up front :)
Hi Jeff, sorry for the late reply. I didn’t see you comment earlier. I have the D-seal from McMaster Carr and seams to work well. They have a bunch of different sizes for different needs. Mine is fairly soft so it flattens out with the canopy closed and expands as needed.
I can see Van’s making a few updates to their kits Beautiful faring installation My 7A also has clear inspection plates on the elevator controls as well as the ailerons A great way to check for pre flight inspections Thanks
looks great! I also have a custom fairing for the lower part as the original version with the aluminum strip does not look very nice.. But I did not connect the upper and lower part..
Those marks are “kill marks” or “victory marks” here is a Navy article explaining their significance. www.usni.org/magazines/naval-history-magazine/2022/august/brief-illustrated-history-navy-victory-markings#:~:text=These%20victory%20marks%20(also%20known,fuselage%20of%20its%20victorious%20planes.
